The political season in the U.S. goes into prime time starting in February as the countdown begins to Super Tuesday while the sports and entertainment industry celebrate the best of show including the 50th annual Super Bowl, the 58th annual Grammys, and the 88th annual Academy Awards.

Considering the lineup, it’s no surprise that “sweeps” kick off starting February 4th – March 2nd.

HOLIDAYS:

February is Black History Month in the US and given the recent controversy re: lack of diversity in Hollywood, timing is everything.

February 2nd: Groundhog Day. Not only one of my favorite Bill Murray films, but a day to see if
Punxsutawney Phil emerges from Gobbler’s Knob amidst the bright lights of the news crews to save or condemn us to six (6) more weeks of winter based on his shadow. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will miss the annual ceremony at the Staten Island Zoo to stump for Hillary Clinton in Iowa but New Yorkers know the real reason why Hizzoner is keeping his distance.

February 8th: Chinese New Year a/k/a Year of the Monkey and while I have no idea what that means, it seems appropriate for this year’s news cycle.

February 14th: Valentine’s Day. Mercifully, it falls on a Sunday this year.

February 15th: Presidents’ Day. It’s plural to represent all U.S. presidents – past and present. Wonder who will celebrate next year?

CAMPAIGN 2016

February 1st kicks off Iowa’s caucuses for both parties with the Democratic and Republican winners scoring bragging rights and momentum into the New Hampshire primary

February 3rd: CNN hosts a Democratic town hall in New Hampshire which is curious because tomorrow is pretty much more of the same.

February 4th: MSNBC just announced that it will hold a Democratic presidential debate in New Hampshire ahead of the first primary.

February 6th: GOP debate before the NH primary. At this point, it doesn’t even matter if Trump shows up to the event as he will be discussed in absentia.

February 9th: New Hampshire primary: expect to see picturesque shots of snow and local villages. Also, an important time for those lagging in the polls to impress the New England constituency.

February 11th: Democratic debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ahead of the caucus in Nevada.

February 13th: GOP debate in South Carolina and primary to follow.

February 20th: Two-fer. For the Republicans, it’s the South Carolina GOP primary – often considered a “do-or-die” event and Nevada, it’s caucus time for the Democrats and the last big election before Super Tuesday on March 1.

February 23: Now the GOP rally and caucus in Nevada.

February 25: GOP debate. Last time to knock it out of the park before Super Tuesday

February 27: South Carolina feeling the love as the Democratic primary kicks off and candidates rethink their respective strategies.

March 1: Super Tuesday. It’s go-time as twelve (12) states either have a caucus or a primary. Much like the Hunger Games, someone is go’n down.

ENTERTAINMENT/AWARD SEASON:

February 7th: 50th annual Super Bowl kicks off with the Carolina Panthers vs Denver Colts. Without the Green Bay Packers, I’ll only be watching for the ads and the halftime show starring Coldplay, Beyonce, and Bruno Mars. Estimated viewership: more than 110 million fans around the world.

February 15th: The 58th annual Grammys hosted by L.L. Cool J.and airing for the first time on a Monday in a bid to boost ratings. The “In Memoriam” segment is going to be lengthy as 2016 said goodbye to Ian Fraser Kilmister a/k/a Lemmy, David Bowie, Glenn Frey, amongst others.

February 28th: The 88th annual Academy Awards hosted by Chris Rock who zinged the Oscars on Twitter:

As per the NYT obit, Abe Vigoda, the sad-faced actor who emerged from a workmanlike stage career to find belated fame in the 1970s as the earnest mobster Tessio in “The Godfather” and the dyspeptic Detective Phil Fish on the hit sitcom “Barney Miller,” died on Tuesday morning (January 26) in Woodland Park, N.J. He was 94, having outlived by about 34 years an erroneous report of his death that made him a cult figure.

Although I knew his role in the “The Godfather,” I grew up watching “Barney Miller” and the curmudgeonly character simply referred to as “Fish”

In 1982, People magazine erroneously reported that Vigoda had died. To show that he was very much alive, he posed for a photo showing him sitting up in a coffin and holding a copy of the issue.

The announcement of his demise became a running joke throughout the entertainment industry as talk show hosts would regularly book him as “proof of life” and inspire the website www.isabevigodadead.com.

Although I had no idea who ran the site, I knew he/she would never confirm false info. From time-to-time, I would check on Abe and was always relieved to see “NO” as the answer.

The much ballyhooed Storm Jonas has come and gone, leaving the Northeast Corridor in an epic snowdrift. While most of the region continues to dig out, the best clean-up is a viral video of a T Rex shoveling the sidewalk – as dinosaurs are known to do.

Snapshot for January 25, 2016

Cairo is quiet on the fifth anniversary of the uprising in Tahrir Square resulting in the unseating of Hosni Mubarak after three decades in power.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that Zika, a mosquito-borne virus linked to birth defects, will probably spread to all North and South American countries except Canada and Chile. Pregnant women have already been advised to avoid the Olympics in Brazil.

Former Governor of Texas Rick Perry just endorsed U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.

The Sundance Film Festival continues through January 31st but festival-goers can no longer take helicopter flights from one screening to another after local enforcement deemed the makeshift heliports unsafe resulting all flights being grounded.

Last week, scientific reports of a possible new planet in the solar system, this week, rapper B.o.B. is adamant that the Earth is flat. Currently in a Twitter war with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson so that’s gonna end well.

Look ahead:

January 28th: Republican debate in Des Moines, Iowa, sponsored by Fox News. Sidenote: Megyn Kelly returns as a moderator although Trump is hinting that he may skip the debate if she’s not fair.

February 1st: Iowa caucuses kick off. Why is this such a big deal, you ask? Since 1972, it’s been the first major electoral event of the nominating process for President of the United States. It’s also an early indicator as to who might win the nomination for the respective party’s national convention.

February 6th: Republican debate in Manchester, New Hampshire and hosted by ABC News/IJReview

February 7th: Super Bowl 50: Carolina Panthers vs Denver Broncos at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California – the first Super Bowl held in the SF Bay Area since 1985. Will be interesting to see who runs ads during the game.

February 9th: New Hampshire primary. Expect all remaining candidates, staffers, and news organizations to be wearing even more layers of clothing as they spend quality time in New England.

What’s the difference between a caucus and a primary, you ask?

According to Factcheck.Org, in presidential campaigns, a caucus is a system of local gatherings where voters decide which candidate to support and select delegates for nominating conventions. A primary is a statewide voting process in which voter cast secret ballots for their preferred candidates.

Scientists are constantly exploring the universe for the big and small discoveries and two recent findings captured my attention: one is 3x larger than Earth while the other is 15 inches (40 centimeters) in length.

Let’s begin with outer space. In an article written by Konstantin Batygin and Mike Brown and posted in Astronomical Journal, the Caltech scientists found compelling evidence of a ninth planet (we can discuss Pluto later). Rather than me trying to explain time and space – never a good thing – take a look at the stellar animation that the New York Times put together:

National Geographic goes on to explain that if Planet Nine is confirmed, it’s so distant and dim that it’s not a surprise that it hadn’t been detected. Best quote: “This thing will be faint. Like, crazy faint,” says Greg Laughlin, UC-Santa Cruz who calculated that Pluto could be as much as 10,000 times brighter than the new planet.

From the celestial heavens to earthly creatures, the species known as Lumbricus terrestris a/k/a the common earthworm is anything but on the Isle of Rum just off the shores of Scotland.

The Glasgow Naturalist posted the findings after scientists from the University of Central Lancashire discovered very large worm burrows on the remote island and wondered which animal was responsible as the hole was too large for the typical and lowly earthworm. Thanks to optimum conditions including fertile soil and no natural predators, the earthworms are not only getting larger but living longer. While typical worms have a two year life span, the super-sized version can live up to a decade.

Best quote is via The Telegraph and their interview with earthworm expert, Dr. Kevin Butt. “If they (worms) feel footsteps, they will just go down deeper into the earth. They’re not going to jump out and grab people.”

Much like the tv reality show, a dramatic choice was to be made before a national audience as to who would be the chosen one. Donald J. Trump or Ted Cruz? In this instance, former governor of Alaska and 2008 VP nominee Sarah Palin selected Donald Trump to receive her enthusiastic support in his bid for the White House.

“Are you ready for a Commander-in-Chief… who will let our warriors do their job and go kick ISIS’ ass?”

U.S. Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign downplayed Palin’s choice but Cruz took to Twitter to show no hard feelings.

I love @SarahPalinUSA Without her support, I wouldn’t be in the Senate. Regardless of what she does in 2016, I will always be a big fan.

With less than two weeks before the Iowa caucuses, Palin gives Trump a critical boost with Tea Party supporters and evangelicals while she returns to the media spotlight following her departure from Fox News.

Even I was in sensory overload with current events this week and that’s saying a lot.

Starting with the Golden Globe Awards, the death of David Bowie, the engagement of Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall, ten (10) U.S. sailors detained (and released) by the Iranian military, Obama’s final State of the Union address, the Academy Award nominations, the death of Alan Rickman, the first GOP presidential debate of 2016, Al Jazeera America pulls the plug on the network, three (3) people win the $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot, terror attacks in Jakarta and Burkina Faso, and global stock markets plunge into correctional territory re: volatility in China and emerging economies.